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Abby’s 1st B-day party…

We had such a nice day celebrating Abby’s Birthday with my family. Grandma and Grandpa had fun holding little Abby and it truly was a celebration. Abby is now part of our family, even when she was not legally ours. Many of them loved her before they even met her and like us, they can’t imagine her not being here.

Helping open the Birthday girls presents, brought me right back to how all our girls were. They all liked the box and ribbon and bows better than the gifts, Abby was no different. She did sit with me the whole time but was trying to eat the bows, tissue paper and tags. Abby received many cute gifts and soon we moved onto the Birthday cake. She has had some bites of cake but this time was really special. We gave her, her own piece and boy did she make a mess.

Abby decided to play peek-a-boo, while she was eating her cake and got it all over her face. I think it really isn’t a true 1st Birthday, till your child has her own piece of cake and gets it all over herself. So precious, no other words can describe this. Thanks everyone, we had a wonderful day..

So many more 1st’s to enjoy everyday, life is so good, so full of joy and hope.

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:19-20

More to come later!

A miracle happened within me, a change, when I held this little baby girl Sharon. It was two years ago, in China, at a special Orphanage. It seems like so long ago and just yesterday, at the same time. I was a mom of three wonderful teenagers, who felt like our family was complete and was looking forward to the years to come. I never had a twinge or felt any regret to have another child, I was looking forward to the future.

This little nine month old was so sweet and in a few days she had a part of me. She seemed to lay her head down on me and I’d feel her sweet soft hair on my face. Something changed in me, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Sharon, I thought of her everyday, and when we were not nearby. Since so much of our energy had been on getting our little Abby, I thought my feelings had changed for Sharon. I was wrong, I saw this picture this week and felt so sad for her. I want her to have a family that loves her, I know she is loved and cared for at the orphanage but a mom and dad and a family is a totally different kind of love.

She will always have a part of my heart and soul, I will always wish, hope and pray that she is happy and loved. She is a part of what changed in me, she was the start and finish. How could I not still

feel something for this little one. She is now around three years old and has changed into a little girl. She has the same nose and she looks like the little baby I held close to my heart.

One year’s old!

Happy Birthday! Abby turned one the day after the adoption. We were hoping to have the adoption final sometime before her Birthday. It will always be very easy to remember how long she has been ours. We had a small little get together for Abby’s Birthday, just the girls, Dustin, Michael and I. It’s still so amazing that Abby is finally ours.

Abby sure does have a personality now, she is a sassy little girl. Most of the time she is happy, smiling, and babbling. The last two nights she has woken up at two am, last night she was saying dat dat and then saying ba ba, while she used her fingers on her lips. So cute but momma and baby are both sleepy.

This week my parents are coming in for a visit, I know they are looking forward to seeing all their children and grandkids. They are also looking forward to seeing their new grandchild, Abby. We are going to have a 1st Birthday party for Abby with all my family there. Everyone is also going to meet Abby’s sister Gabby also. How exciting!

October 8, 2010

Abby is playing in the waiting room while we waited for our name to be called to, become our legal daughter. She will be Abigail Hope, I no longer have to say we are her foster parents waiting to adopt her. We went through the motions of getting ready, picking out her clothes. Getting everyone prepared, with times and making sure everyone could be there.

It almost felt surreal. Abby has been in our home for so long, that she already has felt like our daughter.

This is a real courtroom, with a real judge. Michael and I both had to swear to tell the truth, and then it began. The judge asked us questions, like if we understood that Abby would be our daughter in every sense. If we knew her history and medical conditions, and we answered yes to all of them. He also asked if we changed our mind, which of course we said no. It was so cute, Abby chatted, screamed and smiled the whole time. Tears were running down my face and I looked over at my girls, my friends and Aunt Barb and saw the same look on their faces. It was so right and so clear, she is ours. Finally, this little miracle child has a whole family and will be cherished all her days.

It was no longer surreal, it is real. It started hitting me, everything we have waited for, became true on this day. She is ours to raise, to love, to teach. No longer will the agency come for visits. No longer will she have another name, no worry, now it’s on to just live and love.

We all went out to breakfast after and it was so sweet. Abby is ours in every way, she is so precious to us. It hit Michael and I even more later that afternoon, for me when I was laying Abby down for her nap. I really don’t know how to explain this, it almost felt like when I went to China on my mission trips. It’s almost unbelievable that you are really there and the things you are seeing. I think it’s different when you have a pregnancy, for 9 months you carry that child and then she or he, is laying in your arms. It is different, I don’t know why or how, it just is. It is hard to put into words, what my heart and soul is feeling. I just know I am at peace and so happy. When Abby was so loud in the courtroom, it was perfect, it was like she knew. The judge and everyone there, said this is a much-loved child, well-adjusted and so happy. That was some of what I felt, like the icing on the cake. Joy, hope, love, what more can I say.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

More to come later!

This is one of the first pictures I saw of Abby, I thought oh my goodness what a precious little one. I remember having so many odd feelings, that really were confusing. My brother is holding this little Abby in his arms, meeting her for the first time, and I was still afraid to actually see her. Tiffany kept making comments about her maybe becoming ours. It was so scary to actually take that first step, to decide ok we will take her in our home for a few days and see what happens. To just take one step in front of the other, in fear and all. I was worried about everyone’s feelings, I didn’t want to get my heart-broken and I also had my girls to think about too.

I talked to Michael and said why don’t we just have her for a few days and see how we feel about having an infant in our home, by this time Abby was 6 weeks old. I had always pictured an older child under 2 1/2, probably because you don’t think you would ever get an infant and because I had fallen in love with Sharon in China, and she was older. We of course loved having her with us and we all thought she was so beautiful. After a time, she was written on our hearts and souls. I was still scared and worried, and then I even started being worried that since I loved this baby so much, how could Tiffany not love her in the same way. Tiffany and I both really feel like this was all God’s plan, the timing was perfect for us and for Tiffany. Tiffany wanted more time with her newly adopted daughter Gabby and she works full-time also. Abby started off so little and scrawny, Tiffany always says she thrived because of us and what we could give her.

At Christmas time, I talked to Tiffany about introducing everyone to Abby and I was still worried, all these what ifs are with you all the time. What if a family member wants the baby, or the agency doesn’t want her with us or an adoptive family finds out about her. I had to have faith that if she was meant to be ours, then God would find a way. I was still worried about Tiffany’s feelings, but she kept reassuring me, this is your little girl, she will be your Abby. I had so much support around me, friends and family, that just listened to my fears, doubts and worries and just held my hand through it all.

I believe that God does things in our lives to make us say, wow that was God, not me, not lucky, God. My first trip to China, my passport came on Easter, on a Holiday and a Sunday. It was like saying yes this is what I wanted you to do, so I’m going to show you I’m here. My second trip to China, we actually didn’t think we would go to China at all, since the Olympic’s were making it difficult to get passports. So I put in my application to serve wherever God needed me. When I found out I was going to an Orphanage in China, I was so excited and ready to be of service. Michael and I both prayed together before I left to change me radically and then he did. A year after that we were doing our foster classes and another year after that Abby will be ours.

It was just like God to on my Birthday, to give us the news that Abby will be ours legally on Oct 8, one day before her 1st Birthday. I don’t know how to explain this, but I had the feeling all along that something would happen on that day. He continually surprises and amazes me everyday. I am so thankful for all the changes he caused in my heart, two years ago. That he trusted and knew that we could love this one child. That he knew our whole families would love and accept this one as our own. We went into this thinking, we can bless a child, and in the end she blesses us everyday, with a smile, a kiss, a laugh and so much more to come.

“(Praise to God for a living hope) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” 1 Peter 1:3